Minds in danger

"Minds in Danger" (illustration by The Statesman)

From the point of view of the unity of opposites, the sacred cannot be an absolute reality that transcends the world (‘the profane’), because ‘the sacred’ is defined in relation to the ‘profane’, and created through ‘consecrations’ by means of precepts, rites, methods, substances, etc. within the domain of the profane. Yet, “the sacred” is considered as other than and superior to the profane. It is sacred merely through the joint decision of a community and that constitutes the bond (samaya) of that community. In fact, what is actually "sacred" is that very bond, without which ‘the sacred’ collapses. That bond is the weakest and strongest point of ‘the sacred’. There is no sacred without profane, as there is no light without darkness. The 'sacred’ will exist as long as the bond is maintained by a community. Any divine Light, God’s truth, absolute truth etc. does not exist independently from the community believing in it and living it out..

The hidden children of Ruinerworld Farm, documentary by Jessica Villerius

I recently watched a moving documentary by Jessica Villerius, called “The hidden children of Ruinerworld Farm” (De kinderen van Ruinerwold, in Dutch language, VPN required) and read the book “Wij waren, ik ben: weg uit Ruinerwold” written by Israel van Dorsten, one of the survivors, who gives a precious inside perspective and analysis.

The discovery of the 6 hidden children of 67-year old Gert-Jan van Dorsten in a Dutch farm was world news in 2019. Three older children had already escaped earlier, but without alerting the Dutch authorities. The six youngest children, unknown and not registered by the Dutch authorities, remained in the grip of their father, a former member of the Moon sect, who thought himself to be a Messiah directly appointed by God. The documentary tells the gradual liberation of the older children from the influence of their father, and from his indoctrination. Since Gert-Jan van Dorsten had suffered a stroke in 2016 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak, he was declared unfit to stand trial.

Without going into the complex details (the unimaginable mental and physical abuse) of the case, I will mainly focus on the role of the mother and - after her death in 2003 - of the children as spirit mediums, and vessels for spirits from the 'spirit world'. The 'Prime Father', as he claimed to be called, used the bodies and minds of his wife and children as vessels for spirits, with whom he then 'communicated'. Israel van Dorsten, the author of the above mentioned book, explains how at one time he was the 'host' of a hundred different spirits that took the place of his own core identity. When a child was hosting a spirit, he (after the mother only two male children served as mediums) spoke and acted as that spirit, and was addressed by his father, brothers and sisters as effectively being that spirit. If the child medium thought himself to be his ordinary self and acted as such, he would expose himself to brutal punishment. The other children exposed themselves to punishment too, if they forgot to treat their mother and brother(s) as the spirit, at various periods. The mother was the first medium and after her death, the second son became the second medium. The eldest son was rejected straight away as a bad influence and had to live apart from the rest of the family in the same house. After the escape of the second son, the third son and author of the book became the spirit medium.  

In the father’s mind, and consequently through his continuous indoctrination in that of the children, punishment (long cold baths, severe beating, strangling aka “killing a ghost”, being locked up with the dog in a shed for months in a row) was not seen as punishment, but as a sort of “purification”, in order for the children to become clean again and to serve as a medium. To be clean, they should not be ‘under’, i.e. under the influence of someone else, a spirit, or simply the evil outside world, including the school the three oldest children went to, because they were registered children. Their minds were purified by intensive praying. When their mother was still alive and served as the medium, she got the same treatment (abuse) from the “Prime father”. When she was hosting a spirit in her body, she would sit on a chair, and was to be treated by the rest of the family as that specific spirit and not as their mother.

All “communications” with spirits and direct “instructions received from God” were written down by the “Prime father”. Many exchanges with his family were recorded and filmed, so that the children could listen to them and watch them again later for their further education... Some of this footage has been used in the documentary. Since the six youngest children were unknown to the Dutch authorities, they were kept at home and didn’t go to school. They were educated and indoctrinated by their father and Messiah. The “Prime Father” also had some disciples with whom he exchanged via Myspace, Facebook etc. and who made donations to him, allowing the family to continue living their hidden life.

Was Gert-Jan van Dorsten insane or suffering from theomania? He surely was a self-proclaimed sect leader that didn’t make it into a recognised religious leader. He was very disappointed that Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose teachings he followed until then, didn’t recognize his special status as a Messiah. Was Rev. Sun Myung Moon suffering from theomania? Or those following any self-proclaimed Messiah? At what point can religious beliefs be considered theomania? The superiority of the Heavenly realms and the inferiority of the Earth, the existence of a Spirit World separate from the Physical World, The different nature of Soul, Mind and Body, a Soul entering and leaving a Body, ascending beyond the limits of the universe, and being reborn again into a new body are all common and acceptable religious beliefs. Having thoughts, emotions and beliefs is something all humans share naturally. To fully live by specifically selected or culturally inherited beliefs can already be more problematic, and within private circles ruled by sacred bonds, it is bound to turn into a disaster and DARVO behavior.

In religious, spiritual or esoteric circles, it is not considered insane to believe in a body serving as a medium for a spirit. It is not insane to believe in exorcism/purification as a means to efficiently expel a spirit that took possession of a body. Is it insane to punish/”purify”/correct a child for not following religious precepts? Not really, it often is even considered as part of a good or tough but necessary education.

I already wrote[1] about the phenomenon of children used as mediums in Tibetan Buddhism. Young children can be recognised as avatars born into a mortal human body with the mission to bring new Revelations or updates of former Revelations (gter ma). The Tibetan Nyingma tradition defined rules for children to qualify as an authentic Revealer (gter ston). These rules can be found in the Lungten Kagyama (The Command Seal of Prophecies), a Revelation attributed to Padmasambhava and rediscovered by tertön Sangye Lingpa (1340–1396[2]). The age of thirteen seems to be the time for a child recognised as a Revealer to be properly consecrated.

Tertön Mingyur Dorje (1645 - 1667) is an interesting example, because, since he died at a very young age, his hagiography (The All Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder, the Outer Liberation Story of Terton Migyur Dorje, TBRC W1KG1934) was written by his tutor and “impresario” Karma Chakme (karma chags med, 1613–1678)[3]. The hagiography is mainly a collection of justifications for Mingyur Dorje’s status as a Revealer (tertön).

“In stories of Terton Migyur Dorje’s past lives and in his liberation stories, I [Karma Chakme] have almost always been connected with him. In this life I am also the successor of his Namcho teachings; the terton is the deity on whom my flower fell. His teachings are my fortune. Serving this special being and his special teachings makes my life meaningful. This is my motivation for writing. I believe I am performing a service by writing this liberation story, and I have no aspiration to worldly position or any other aspirations. I am not writing out of a desire for fame, thinking that if the terton becomes famous I will become well-known in the process. Nor have I any desire to become a scholar, wishing to become renowned by writing many volumes. I have no desire to amass wealth; nor do I hope to benefit in a worldly way if the terton attracts many followers.” All Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder, p. 7

Karma Chakme explains how in the Buddha’s heart, Akaniṣṭha, there are a billion Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche, how the Guru Rinpoche we know will have one billion emanations, and that one of these was Tertön Mingyur Dorje, who was also thought to be the tulku of Kathog Wangdrag Gyatso. Moreover, a Tibetan Revealer must also be physically born in a clan descending from the legendary king Trisong Deutsen, an emanation of Mañjuśrī. Karma Chakme gives a great deal of attention to Migyur Dorje’s alleged blood connections with Tibetan dharma kings[4].

Mingyur Dorje was living with his "sinful" maternal grandfather, who was a hunter and a drunk. Since it was dangerous[5] for Mingyur Dorje to remain “unrecognized”, Karma Chagme decided to go and see Mingyur Dorje’s father. When Mingyur Dorje arrives in Karma Chakme’s residence, he investigates his birthmarks in accordance with the statements made by Guru Rinpoche in the Lungten Kagyama.

“When [Karma Chakme] asked the terton whether he remembered his past life, he replied, “I am Lama Tsultrim Dorje. When I was younger I had many things to tell, but now I have forgotten and have nothing to say.”

Karma Chakme conferred initiations and teachings to Mingyur Dorje, although Mingyur Dorje was thought to have already received them in previous lives[6]. After these preparations Karma Chakme started his retreat together with the 11-year old Mingyur Dorje, who initially was said to be very restless[7]. Then the future tertön started having visions of various deities. Mingyur Dorje would roll out thankas of specific deities and subsequently had visions of that specific deity. He would then roll up the thanka, and roll out one of another deity, had visions of the latter, etc. Karma Chakme tells how Mingyur Dorje once prevented a lunar eclipse by practicing prāṇāyāma, so that the “poor moon” would not be swallowed by Rahula…[8]

Karma Chakme never left Mingyur Dorje alone and they even slept in the same bed[9]. After having overcome specific obstacles to Mingyur Dorje’s Revealer activity, the tertön was finally ready for the transmission of the Namchö Revelations. Various deities appeared to him, starting with Dharmakaya Samantabhadra, followed by the Great Compassionate One and the Great Padmasambhava in person. Finally the Great Compassionate One also transmitted the Dzogchen teachings.

“The Namcho teachings contain so many tantras, sadhanas, empowerments and yogic activities, and the attributes of so many deities that we have never known and cannot differentiate that even a person with a sharp intellect cannot recall them. No other treasure teachings have this quality, which is a wonder of wonders.”

Karma Chakme takes on criticism about his claim that Mingyur Dorje stayed for three years with Guru Rinpoche in Chamaradvipa (p. 86), and blames it on the lack of faith of the critics. He quotes from Ratna Lingpa’s treasure teaching called the Middle Length Prophecy:

“My manifestations will be unfathomable
Every morning and every night I will benefit beings of Tibet
In particular, I will personally come on the morning of the tenth day of every Tibetan month;
To those with deep faith in me, I will come in actuality.”

In the same Prophecy, Guru Rinpoche prophecies Mingyur Dorje as a Revealer. At the end of their 3-year retreat, Mingyur Dorje urged Karma Chakme to ask him for anything else he may need, before leaving the retreat, because

“When the Namcho treasures are completely revealed, there will be no more visions,” he said; even if he had some, he would have no opportunity to ask the deities.” (p. 92)

It is interesting to see the parallels between both situations. Children trained, indoctrinated and used as mediums, locked up from the outside world in order to keep potential negative influences at bay. This can create a paranoiac mindset, where one feels threatened, both by enemies from the “physical world” and the “spirit world”. In the case of Karma Chakme and Mingyur Dorje, since there was only the both of them in retreat, their fusion was almost total. Karma Chakme feeds Mingyur Dorje’s mind with data, stories, images (thankas), initiations, rituals for all purposes, day in day out, and, as a result, Mingyur Dorje starts dreaming about it, having visions, daydreams, and finally Mingyur Dorje, somehow identifying with entities from Akaniṣṭha (the Divine light), gives the Revelations he receives in his mind to Karma Chakme. Mingyur Dorje may not have fully understood the revelations, but Karma Chakme noted them down and interpreted them according to the proper Doctrine.

What is particularly interesting in the experience of Israel van Dorsten (and his brothers and sisters), is - after having lived together 24/7 for many years - how well they had learned to “read” their father/Messiah. They knew all his whims and mood swings. Through the continuous threat of mental and physical abuse the children managed to intuit the “right” answers their father expected, or that would most likely satisfy him. In the last year before he ran away from home, Israel finally managed to “talk directly” with God, wrote down God’s words and showed them to his father, who initially acknowledged they were indeed God’s words. Israel felt that two minds were living simultaneously in his body. Just like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon taught in English, and his father’s instructions were given in English, God too talked in English to Israel, while using the proper jargon:

‘Now God wants to rebuild the ideal world. This is the task of the people in Eden. But the evil side is still trying to expand their evil and therefore tries to block the people of Eden from building the ideal world under God. ’

‘The main goal of the attacks of the evil side is to disconnect the people in Eden from God. So the first task for Eden's defense is to stay connected to God because otherwise the war against the evil ones can never be won and the enemy will take control.’

‘How must Eden be protected against these attacks? All people and beings are in different stages of restoration, some beings are closer to God and more pure and other beings are very evil and far away from God... In and around Eden the people further away from God protect the ones closer to God. If this principle is kept there can be made a good system of defense and all other tasks for the defense of Eden can be fulfilled.’

These are the main tasks for the defense of Eden.’

Israel spent his days praying, reading his father’s books, noting down all the ideas he received. He kept files of the 100 spirits hosted in his body, and ended up exhausted by the continuous presence of two voices in his head. He found it difficult to fall asleep.

“After a few months, I notice how gruelling this new way of life is. Doing what God's voice in my head wants all day is deadly exhausting. It is a constant dialogue between the two characters in my head.

The moments before bed are the worst. Sleeping without God is bad. Then you can come under a bad influence. The only way to make sure this doesn't happen is to go to bed praying. So that's what I do, every night. But with two chattering voices in your head, you can't really sleep. Often it is practically impossible. I get more and more tired[10].”

Simultaneously Israel, who already had some doubts, started having access to the Internet, thus coming under various bad influences… When the father finally suggested that Israel’s “God” could be a Gnostic demiurge and not the real God, Israel started doubting everything he believed in until then, including the existence of God[11]. It ended with Israel leaving Ruinerwold Farm and abandoning the faith of his father altogether, like his brothers and sisters.

Karma Chakme’s hagiography explains how Mingyur Dorje “revealed profound and visionary concealed teachings, mind treasures from the space of his mind”.

“Terton Migyur Dorje then told me that if he wished he could write instructions that had never before been recorded. He wrote down a few, and I asked whether his deity had spoken them. He answered that he had heard nothing from his deity. Did he then compose them in his mind? I asked. He responded by asking me how he could possibly know such a style of composition. Next, I asked whether he had written down whatever appeared in his spiritual experience, such as songs arisen from spiritual experiences. He replied that these instructions could not appear as spiritual songs. I again asked whether he wrote down whatever appeared in his mind without any forethought, and he said there would not be much benefit in doing that.

So I asked exactly how he wrote them down, and he responded that just as he could see very clearly whatever objects did or didn’t exist in the house, he could in the same way see all the specific wisdom deities and mundane protectors, their complexions, their implements, and their mantras, as well as the methods required to accomplish them, regardless of whatever their respective collective domain of activities might be.

He could also see that major deities and spirits have life force mantras that can be practiced and he saw the specific activities that can be accomplished. He saw that some cannot accomplish any activities, and that some minor deities and spirits lack life force mantras. He knew whether or not they could benefit others if propitiated, even if they could not accomplish the methods for yogic accomplishment. He saw how specific mantras, substances and auspicious remedies could help cure different diseases but that these methods are not inexhaustible, and do not occur according to one’s wishes. Some deities have rich yogic methods for accomplishment while others have only limited powers. Few instructions on this topic have been written in short form.” (p. 113)

After his retreat and the receiving of the Namchö Revelations, Mingyur Dorje became a celebrated tertön, subjugating demons and opening “sacred places”, future places of worship and circumambulation[12], in remote areas.

“Some unintelligent people who have not studied the teachings may doubt the veracity of reports that a sacred place exists in some out of the way area and that whoever circumambulates it will gather countless merit. To such individuals, I [Karma Chakme] say that the buddhas’ virtuous activities and methods to benefit beings are unfathomable, appearing as ships, bridges, rocks, earth, water, fire, wind and so on, whatever can benefit beings and tame them according to their mental capacities. The sutras and tantras show this in detail.” (p. 110-111)

Mingyur Dorje died prematurely at the age of 23.

“Karma Chakme immediately commenced necessary prayers and rituals and made arrangements for the funeral. Rumors arose that Mingyur Dorje had been poisoned, but the accusation did not gain credibility.” (Treasury of Lives)

Children used as spirit mediums have a long history. Starting in Egypt.

“In one such spell in the London-Leiden Papyrus, the magician is to take a bronze bowl engraved with a figure of Anubis, fill it with water and cover the water with a film of oil. The child medium is to be made to lie on four bricks with a cloth over his head. The magician lights a lamp on one side of the child and a censer on the other. He is then to burn exotic incense and chant an invocation to Anubis over and over again. It is hardly surprising that a child who was susceptible to influence would begin to see pictures in the oil. This was a private rite, of a type disapproved of by the Roman government. In earlier times, when magic was more socially acceptable, large groups of people might come together to achieve a visionary frenzy through music, dance and song.” Geraldine Pinch - Magic in Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press (1994), p. 88-89

In Gnostic and Hermetic circles.

“T. - Why do you say that, O Trismegistus?

H. - Look at the soul of a child, my son, that has not yet accepted its own separation. Its body is not yet grown and has not fully developed. How beautiful it is to behold in every way! Not yet soiled by the experiences of the body, still virtually depending upon the soul of the cosmos. But when the body has grown large and drags the soul down to its grossness, the soul separates itself, forgets and does not partake of beauty and goodness. Forgetting becomes her corruption.” The Corpus Hermeticum: Book 10, The Way Of Hermes, Clement Salaman, 2020

In Buddhist Tantrism in China.

In the "Sūtra of the Yogin” (Yuqi jing, T. 867), translated into Chinese by Vajrabodhi , the following procedure is explained.

"If with a spell (dhāraṇī) you charge girls and boys with power,
You can bring about the āveśa [the 'possession'],
Of the things of the three worlds and the three ages,
Thus you can learn good or bad omen."

And:

"Take virgin boys and girls,
Bathe them, dress them in fresh clothes,
Make them take the Bodhisattva vow,
And place them on a bed of white flowers,
Recite incantations over them, cover their faces,
And recite again, a thousand and eight times,
Then they will know the āveśa directly,
Sometimes their bodies will hang in the air,
Of all things past, present and to come,
They shall have full knowledge[13]." Michel Strickmann, Mantras et mandarins p.220

Times have changed. What once may have been acceptable as a religious tradition no longer is, as we can see in the Ruinerwold Farm case. Gert-Jan van Dorsten’s private cult was fed by well known religious ideas, its basic frame being that of Moon’s Unification Church, to which van Dorsten added Christian, Gnostic and Shamanist beliefs. I am not aware of the origin of his particular ‘spirit medium’ method.

It is particularly shocking that children are secluded and withheld from participating in society and going to school; that they are fed paranoiac ideas about an evil world; that they are fed ideas about a “spirit world” and its superiority; that they have to treat their father as a Messiah and his words as God’s words; that they are forbidden to see and treat their “spirit medium” mother as their mother and their “spirit medium” brothers as their brothers; that they are severely punished physically, verbally, mentally and spiritually if they don’t execute the orders given by their father; that they are forced to renounce their own identity and serve as vessels for spirits.

In other words, it is shocking when children are asked to fear and reject “the physical world”, including their own this-worldly identity and develop a “sacred outlook”, in order to give full priority to the restoration/advent of “Eden”. Not as a simple “belief”, but most concretely so, and in a totalitarian way, always and everywhere… Imposing on children such a religion or a cult, whether a “world religion” or a clandestine cult, is not acceptable.

***

[1] Le Franchissement du pic dans la lignée Kagyu 13/12/2014
Transmissions célestes 03/10/2017

[2] Guru Chowang (1212 - 1270) was a early Revealer, who set down some rules for future Revealers.

“Chokyi Wangchuk was also instrumental in establishing the notion that treasure revelation requires the practice of sexual yoga. He claimed that he could not understand one of his own revelations, the Kabgye Sangwa Yongdzok (bka' brgyad gsang ba yongs rdzogs) until after he had opened his yogic central channel via sexual yoga. His consort was Jomo Menmo (jo mo sman mo), an established treasure revealer herself.” Treasury of Lives

[3] “Someone might say that Migyur Dorje should have written his own liberation story, and ask why I deserve to write it. In fact, various Buddhist traditions have many examples of vajra masters writing their noble disciples’ liberation stories and eulogies. Lord Buddha praised the shravakas’ good qualities in the vinaya and the sutras. Je Mikyodpa wrote a liberation story of Shamar Kunchog Bang as well as an instruction manual on it. Norbu Gyenpa wrote Jatson Nyingpo’s liberation story, being both his teacher and his disciple. Similar cases abound, as most liberation stories have been compiled by the master’s main personal disciples. Thus, I, Karma Chagme, am a suitable person to compile this liberation story.” All Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder, p. 4

[4] “Despite being born in a lineage of Tibet’s great dharma kings, Terton Migyur Dorje had no domain, so someone might ask, “What is the point of being born in that lineage?” Indicating Guru Rinpoche’s particular compassion towards the lineage of Tibetan dharma kings, the Leu Dunma (Seven Chapter Supplication to Guru Rinpoche) states:

Beginning with King Trisong Deutsen
As long as the lineage of the dharma kings does not perish
Pray to me without any doubt or a divided mind
I will look upon you with unchanging compassion.

When Migyur Dorje and others who hold King Trisongs lineage read that specific stanza while reciting the Seven Chapter Supplication, tears fall from their eyes and they weep openly.” All Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder, p. 21

[5] "In a similar way, since Terton Migyur Dorje went unrecognized for a long time, his benefit to beings was limited, and many dakinis came to call him to the pure land". All Pervading Melodious Sound of Thunder, p. 32

[6] “Terton Migyur Dorje himself said: “Though I have previously received all empowerments and oral transmissions, and there is nothing that I do not know, I pretend to receive empowerments and oral transmissions and to study the scriptures.” p. 50

[7] “I thought the time had come for Terton Migyur Dorje to spend some time with me in retreat. Although it would have been beneficial for him to practice for a while on the two phases of sadhana, approach and accomplishment, he would not remain in one place for even an instant, but was always running, jumping and shouting to the sky. Exasperated, I wondered why he could not stay still in retreat.”
“One day the terton drew a picture of two lamas in retreat; one carried a bamboo stick and made the gesture of issuing an order while the other sat quietly and obediently. He told me to draw a picture of his home with people spinning hand prayer wheels. I did what he asked and from then on, the terton sat on his seat all the time, not even opening his meditation belt. Needing no reminder, he regularly performed the long-life practice, and recited the liturgies of dedicating torma and water torma.”
p. 53

[8] “Most scholars agreed that a full lunar eclipse would occur on the 15th day of the first Tibetan month. The annual calendar published by scholars of astrology said the same thing. Traditionally, people stayed outside when an eclipse was due to occur, making tea and reciting mantras to save the moon from being swallowed by Rahulai. Terton Migyur Dorje and 1 also did this, and talked about whether the moon suffered pain when Rahula swallowed it. He asked, uIs this true or false?” and I replied, “There are different opinions but the Moon Sutra says that the moon suffers when trapped by Rahula.” The terton questioned further, “Who could subdue this planetary spirit?” I answered that Vajrapani and Guru Rinpoche could subdue Rahula. He persisted, asking whether there was any way to stop the sun and moon from being trapped. “If a practitioner can hold his wind energy and prevent the white seminal fluid from entering the central channel then he can stop it,” I replied, recounting the story of how Tserlung Drungpa had performed this feat.

The terton said sadly, “This poor moon, what a pity!” and he prayed to Guru Rinpoche and Vajrapani, pleading repeatedly: “May the moon never be trapped!” Full of emotion and about to weep, he declared, “If Drungpa could do it, then maybe I can also succeed.” He controlled his wind energy for a long time and that night the moon was not trapped.” p. 54

[9] “Yet, because he was a young boy and the retreat place was dark and infested with rats, I did not find this a safe place for him to sleep and had to let him sleep with me.”
“I always shared my bed with the terton and followed him everywhere, whether he was sitting, standing, or bathing.”

[10] “Na een aantal maanden merk ik hoe slopend deze nieuwe manier van leven is. De hele dag doen wat Gods stem in mijn hoofd wil, is dodelijk vermoeiend. Het is een constante dialoog tussen de twee personages in mijn hoofd.

De momenten voor het slapengaan zijn het ergst. Slapen zonder God is slecht. Dan kun je onder slechte invloed komen. De enige manier om ervoor te zorgen dat dit niet gebeurt, is door biddend naar bed te gaan. Dus dat doe ik, iedere avond opnieuw. Maar met twee kletsende stemmen in je hoofd kun je niet echt slapen. Vaak is het praktisch onmogelijk. Ik raak steeds vermoeider.”

[11] "Meanwhile, Father is becoming increasingly convinced that there is also a cosmic false god masquerading as the real God and that very many important people of the past have been deceived by this fraudster. This discovery has profound implications for me. I am beginning to doubt my 'God'. Maybe that is the impostor Father is talking about. [...] All this time, I have been a tool of an evil spirit, a subject of a devil masquerading as God. I am an instrument for the dark powers. Will this ever work out? Can I ever get it right? I don't know anymore, I really don't know."

“Ondertussen raakt vader er steeds meer van overtuigd dat er ook een kosmische valse god bestaat die zich voordoet als de echte God en dat heel veel belangrijke mensen uit het verleden misleid zijn door deze oplichter. Deze ontdekking heeft ingrijpende gevolgen voor mij. Ik begin te twijfelen aan mijn ‘God’. Misschien is dat wel de bedrieger waar vader het over heeft. [...] Al die tijd ben ik een werktuig geweest van een slechte geest, een onderdaan van een duivel die zich als God voordoet. Ik ben een instrument voor de donkere machten. Gaat dit ooit nog goed komen? Kan ik het ooit goed doen? Ik weet het niet meer, ik weet het echt niet meer.”

[12] The benefits are explained in the “Sutra that Shows the Verses of Circumambulations” quoted by Karma Chakme.

“Those who circumambulate sacred places
Will be free from being bom in the eight unfree states of rebirth.

Those who circumambulate sacred places
Will be mindful, wise,
Good complexioned, intelligent,
And will be respected everywhere by everyone.

Those who circumambulate sacred places,
Will be bom in human and god realms
With long lives
And will achieve great fame, etc.”

[13] Dans le « Livre du yogin de tous les yoga du pavillon au faîte de diamant » (T. 867), traduit en chinois par Vajrabodhi, la procédure à suivre est expliquée.

« Si d’une incantation (dhāraṇī) tu charges de puissance filles et garçons,
Tu peux provoquer l’āveśa [la ‘possession’],
Des choses des trois mondes et des trois âges,
Tu peux apprendre le bon ou le mauvais présage. »

Et :

« Prends des garçons et des filles vierges,
Baigne-les, habille-les de frais,
Fais leur prêter le vœu de bodhisattva,
Et installe-les sur un lit de fleurs blanches,
Récite des incantations sur eux, couvre leur visage,
Et récite encore, mille huit fois,
Alors ils connaîtront directement l’āveśa,
Parfois leur corps sera suspendu dans les airs,
De toutes les choses passées, présentes et à venir,
Ils auront une totale connaissance. » [Michel Strickmann, Mantras et mandarins, p.220]

De la lumière humaine

Héraclite et Démocrite (attribué à Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678)

Selon l'Avesta, Ahura Mazda est l'Esprit suprême qui donna naissance à Spenta Mainyu (l'Esprit Saint) et à Angra Mainyu/Ahra Manyu (le Mauvais Esprit), deux principes opposés. Dans la religion dualiste de Zoroastre, l'Esprit suprême transcende la création, mais reste “le Pôle de la Lumière essentielle”, ainsi que le père du feu sacré, “manifesté par le Feu primordial qui est la lumière fulgurante, toute métaphysique, mais qui précède et engendre les illuminations célestes des feux solaires et stellaires du cosmos”[1]. L’essence précède l’existence.

Pour Héraclite, le Logos n’est pas la “raison cosmique” ontologique, “la raison réelle indépendamment de l’homme, immanente à toutes choses, les gouvernant, les unifiant”[2].

“[ ] Le Discours [héraclitiéen/philosophique] n’a pas d’extérieur. Il n’a pas de cause. Il est libre. Il développe des raisons qui renvoient à d’autres raisons et finalement referment le cercle.[3]”

“Tout est un”, “Toutes choses sont unes”, dans le sens de l’unité des contraires, l’unité des opposés : “divisible indivisible, engendré inengendré, mortel immortel, logos temps, père fils, dieu justice”[4]. Héraclite dit “tout est un et non-un”[5]. Les contraires sont uns, tout en étant des contraires. C’est un discours toujours vrai (logos), mais qui ne fait pas partie du tout : “il est hors du tout, justement pour pouvoir dire, dévoiler le tout”[6]. Le discours vrai est “arraché à la méconnaissance”[7], et saisi par l’intelligence transsubjective (Noûs)[8]. Sans cette intelligence, les hommes “parlent et agissent, ils vivent, dans des mondes qu’ils inventent, et donc dans une sorte de distraction à l’égard du réel et d’eux-mêmes, une sorte de rêve, passant dans le monde comme des somnambules, sans jamais réaliser la présence au monde”[9].

C’est le “discours absolu, le discours toujours vrai de la totalité”, qui est “la pure lumière”, une lumière qui ne laisse pas d’ombre, “car le discours vrai n’a pas de contraire”[10]. Nous sommes dans des métaphores. Cette “lumière” ne vient pas de Delphes (la Sybille possédée par le dieu), ou d’autres oracles (fragment 39), qui ne donnent que des signes à interpréter.

La Lumière et l’ombre sont uns, tout en étant des contraires. Tout comme Dionysos (la génération et la vie) et Hadès (la mort et les morts, fragment 41). La religion, qui se considère souvent être du côté de la Lumière (à l’exclusion de tout ombre), permet parfois, lors des fêtes mystiques, certains îlots de ténèbres bien encadrés, où elle exalte les mystes, et en fait des “coureuses de nuit”, qui, “à la lueur des torches à travers monts et forêts”, poursuivent des bêtes effarouchées, les mettent en pièces, en mangent les chairs crues (omophagie). L’impiété (asebeia) devenant piété (eusebeia) grâce à l'initiation des mystes (fragment 42). Même les persécutions et les guerres peuvent devenir “eusebeia”... Tout vrai discours s’effondre dans une sorte de novlangue.

Aspirer à une “vie future toute de bonheur” (la motivation des mystes), est absurde selon le logos d’Héraclite, car c’est ignorer l’unité des contraires, et s’investir unilatéralement en le “contraire” du bonheur, de la lumière, etc. Un bonheur sans peine[11].

Pour Héraclite, les mages (“prêtres du Lumineux”), les bacchants, les bacchantes et les initiés (mystes), tout en croyant évoluer dans la Lumière, “errent dans la nuit” (fragment 43), car ils tournant le dos à l’unité des contraires, en refusant tout “ombre”.

“Les magoi sont pour [Héraclite] les adorateurs d'Ahura Mazdâ, le Lumineux, et du Feu, le symbole de la Lumière divine, qui, perpétuellement, apporte la vie, repousse les ténèbres et la mort. Ce sont eux qu'il flagelle du mot le plus dur pour ces fils de la lumière : nyctipoloi ! “ ceux qui errent dans la nuit ! ”. Ils errent, en effet, dans la nuit de l'inintelligence, puisqu'ils se figurent qu'entre la lumière et les ténèbres, il faut choisir, alors qu'elles ne s'opposent qu'au sein d'une unité indissociable.[12]”

“Les mages se trompent en croyant prédire ce qui arrivera, en croyant efficaces les cérémonies magiques, plus fondamentalement, en opposant la Lumière et les Ténèbres sans voir leur unité, les bacchants et bacchantes se trompent en croyant atteindre l'union avec le dieu grâce à leurs états de transe et aux repas sacrés, les mystes de Déméter se trompent en croyant, par l'initiation, obtenir le bonheur futur, et les Orphiques font la même erreur en croyant mériter ce bonheur par un certain genre de vie. L'erreur religieuse n'a aucune valeur pour la recherche de la vérité. Les dogmes et les rites des religions sont à rejeter entièrement, car il ne sert à rien d'errer dans la nuit. Le logos est discours de la seule raison, libre à l'égard de tous les délires traditionnels.[13]”

Quant à l’approche tantrique de purifier “l’impur” par “l’impur”, Héraclite aurait pu répéter son fragment 44[14].

“Ils se purifient en vain par le sang lorsqu'ils sont souillés par le sang, comme si quelqu'un ayant marché dans la boue se lavait avec de la boue : il semblerait être fou si quelque être humain le remarquait en train d'agir ainsi. Et ils font des prières à ces statues comme quelqu'un qui parlerait à des maisons, ne connaissant en rien ce que sont les dieux et les héros.”

La souillure (miasma) est un miasme, causé par le sang d’un meurtre, des règles, de l’accouchement, … Ce type de souillure requiert une purification spécifique. La souillure d’un matricide, d’un parricide, le contact avec un mort, une accouchée, etc., peut, par exemple, être lavée par le sacrifice (réel ou symbolique) d’un animal, que l’on fait couler sur la statue de la divinité.

“Les hommes sont fous de penser ainsi plaire aux dieux, ou les apaiser, ou les honorer. Or, s'ils pensent cela, c'est que les dieux, tels qu'ils se les figurent, sont aussi fous qu'eux. Les uns et les autres sont loin du divin, lequel ne se conçoit qu'en conformité avec la raison et selon le Discours, le Logos. Les hommes et les dieux de la religion sont des hommes et des dieux absurdes. Seule la raison, dans la philosophie, nous montre, en leur vérité, l'humain et le divin.[15]”

La “Lumière” est une métaphore. La lumière réelle que nous connaissons est celle qui provient du soleil et qui éclaire la Terre. La lumière est souvent utilisée pour désigner métaphoriquement l’intelligence (Noûs), capable d’éclairer nos actes, paroles et pensées. Pour d’autres qu’Héraclite, la Lumière (moins métaphoriquement) est d’origine divine. “Dieu est lumière, et il n’y a point en lui des ténèbres” (1 Jean 1:5). “L'Eternel sera ta lumière à toujours” (Esaïe 60:19). La Lumière est ici la Vérité qui émane de Dieu, et qui est révélée par des prophètes humains. La Lumière représentant la Révélation pour éclairer l’homme.

“Car puisque le monde, avec sa sagesse, n'a point connu Dieu dans la sagesse de Dieu, il a plu à Dieu de sauver les croyants par la folie de la prédication”. (1 Corinthiens 1:21)

La Lumière de Dieu dépasserait la raison, la sagesse et l’intelligence humaines. La Lumière de Dieu n’ayant point de ténèbres en lui, Lumière et ombre ne sont pas uns. Seule la Lumière est réelle, l’ombre (l'expérience humaine) serait une illusion. L’unité des contraires et la non-dualité recherchées par Héraclite et par des bodhisattvas du mahāyāna ne sont pas la sagesse de Dieu, obtenue par une grâce. Ce n’est pas la même métaphore de “lumière”. Noûs signifie l’intelligence, la raison. Dans le cadre de la littérature hermétique, prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff[16] propose de traduire Noûs par “Lumière”, “Lumière divine”, en penchant clairement vers un sens métaphorique plus religieux, à la fois ontologique et épistémologique.

“The true nature of reality is “Light”, universal spiritual light. God is Light, reality is Light and human beings are Light. In their ordinary perception human beings don’t see Light, they see objects, because they are “deluded”, in a state of hallucination, and don’t perceive reality as it is. The things that are perceived may seem real, but are in reality universal light. The “Way of Hermes” helps us to awaken from the state of delusion and to perceive the true nature of reality.” (Blog About the nature of "Light" (Nous))

La Lumière qui éclaire l’homme est dans ce cas la Révélation de la Lumière divine, reçue par le biais d’un prophète, d'une entité de l'Ennéade, etc. Ce n’est pas une lumière qui éclaire directement, et ce n’est pas une lumière propre à l’homme.

“Nous ne sommes pas à nous-mêmes notre propre lumière, estime Augustin, et le maître intérieur qui nous parle n’est autre que la Vérité, c’est-à-dire la personne divine elle-même, illuminant l’esprit humain de l’intérieur. Se parler à soi-même, c’est écouter Dieu parler.[17]”

Le Bouddha dit :

Atta dipa
Viharatha
Atta sarana
Ananna sarana

Soi-même est une île (S. dvīpa)
Demeurez-y
A part le refuge en soi-même
Il n'y a pas d'autre refuge[18]

Le mot dipa peut aussi être interprété comme “lampe” ou lumière (S. dīpa), comme dans les traductions en chinois. Il est évident que dans le bouddhisme classique, la lumière serait plutôt celle (métaphorique) de l’intelligence, et non la lumière divine, qui brillerait en tant que l’étincelle de l’âme (scintilla animae).

“C’est là, dans cette étincelle, dit Eckhart, que Dieu naît dans l’âme et que l’âme naît en Dieu. Étincelle, fond, abîme, fine pointe de l’âme, château fort, syndérèse … autant d’appellations propres à la mystique rhénane pour dire le « lieu » de la naissance de Dieu dans l’âme : un « lieu sans lieu » où l’homme devient fils dans le Fils, participant, par grâce, à la vie trinitaire.[19]”

La citation ci-dessus du Maha-Parinibbana Sutta poursuit avec :

“Le Dhamma est une île
A part le refuge en le Dhamma
Il n'y a pas d'autre refuge”

Le Discours du Bouddha. C’était à travers des propos rapportés du Bouddha que Sariputta eut son premier éveil. Le Bouddha n’était même pas présent, et il n’y eut pas de transmission particulière par le biais d'une fleur, ou d’un sourire. Parlant avec l’Errant Assaji l’Ancien, celui-ci résuma le Discours du Bouddha aux futurs Sariputta et Moggallana :

“ De tout ce qui est produit par une cause,
Le Tathāgata en a dit la cause
Ainsi que la cessation ;
Telle est la doctrine du Grand Renonçant. “

Lorsqu’il entendit les deux premiers vers, naquit chez Upatissa l’Errant [Sariputta] la vision sans tache du Dhamma, le premier aperçu de la Non-Mort, le chemin de l’entrée-dans-le-courant [sotāpanna] et, à la fin des deux derniers vers, il était entré dans le courant.[20]”

Le Discours du Bouddha est de même nature que celui d’Héraclite. Si leurs discours sont comme une lumière, ils ne sont pas la lumière divine. Il me semble que la singularité du bouddhisme, en tant que religion, est de présenter une voie de l’intelligence transsubjective, susceptible d’aboutir à “l’unité des contraires”, qui n’est pas un objet de connaissance.

L’unité des contraires, sans investissement unilatéral, n’est pas un long fleuve tranquille, mais permet néanmoins un certain d’état d’ouverture.

"Au témoignage de Janouch, qui fut son confident, Kafka lui dit même un jour :
Le Christ est un abîme rempli de lumière, devant lequel on doit fermer les yeux pour ne pas s'y précipiter... Je m'efforce d'être véritablement celui qui attend la grâce. J'attends et je regarde. Peut-être viendra-t-elle, peut-être ne viendra-t-elle pas. Peut-être cette attente tranquille et parfois inquiète est-elle déjà l'annonciatrice de la grâce ou la grâce elle-même. Je ne le sais. Mais cela ne me tourmente pas. J'ai entre-temps lié amitié avec mon ignorance."
(Janouch, Kafka m'a dit, p. 154)

***

[1] Wikipédia Ahura Mazda

[2] Marcel Conche, Héraclite Fragments, PUF, p. 23

[3] Héraclite, p. 24

[4] Hippolyte, Réfutation de toutes les hérésies. Cité dans Conche, p. 24

[5] Conche, p. 27

[6] Conche, p. 27

[7] Conche, p. 34

[8] Conche, p. 35

[9] Conche, pp. 37-38

[10] Conche, p. 151

[11] Conche, p. 164

[12] Conche, p. 169

[13] Conche, p. 170

[14] Conche, p. 171

[15] Conche, p. 173

[16] “Instead of assuming that I already know what this word means (something like “mind” or “intellect,” as every dictionary will tell us), I want the authors of the Hermetica to tell me what it meant for them. As will be seen, their answers are surprising to say the least, and the implications are considerable. If their understanding of nous is in fact different from what we commonly take it to mean, can we still be so sure about those standard translations on which we normally rely? Formulated differently, is the Hermetic nous a conceptual anomaly, or should it lead us to reconsider our assumptions about what we take to mean “mind” or “intellect” in ancient philosophy?” Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination, Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2022.

[17] DUBREUCQ, Éric. Chapitre III. Le cœur et la parole intérieure In: Le cœur et l’écriture chez Saint-Augustin: Enquête sur le rapport à soi dans les Confessions [online]. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2003 (generated 27 janvier 2024). Available on the Internet: <http://books.openedition.org/septentrion/73539>. ISBN: 978-2-7574-2674-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.septentrion.73539.

[18] Maha-Parinibbana Sutta, Digha Nikaya, 16.

[19] L’étincelle de l’âme et la cavité à l’endroit du cœur du Christ dans les Saints sépulcres monumentaux, Isabelle Raviolo, Revue des Sciences Religieuses,

[20] Les grands disciples du Bouddha, Nyanaponika Thera et Hellmuth Hecker, éditions Claire Lumière, Tome I, p. 48

About the nature of "Light" (Nous)

Poimandres, the "shepherd of men", revealing himself to Hermes.
Sesthien boecken, Amsterdam 1643

Hermeticism is not a system. Any text that is attributed to Hermes, can be hermetic. Hermes, being Hermes Tris Megistos, the Thrice great[1], to which texts were attributed in late Antiquity, regardless of their later inclusion in Byzantine and other collections. There is a huge variety of materials attributed to Hermes/Thoth, and, for scholars, their attribution seems to be the lowest common denominator to qualify texts as “hermetical”.

As an aside, we could apply a similar rule to what is considered as “tantric” literature, attributed to a Heruka, Mañjuśrī, Vajrapāṇi, Vajradhara, Maheśvara Śiva, Bhairava and other deities (Nous), whatever the inclusion or exclusion of tantric revelations in “canonical” tantric collections. Not suggesting, but not excluding either, there may have been some intellectual cross-pollination at work between the Middle East and the Far East during Hellenist times or later. Or simply the “Pagan” connection or the “Pagan International” resisting the upcoming "religions".

Hermeticism is said to be “a product of pagan Egyptian Hellenism”[2]. The 17 treaties of what would be called “Corpus Hermeticum” were written in Greek language (using philosophical terminology), but in Egypt, in the 2nd-3rd century of the common era. A sort of marriage between Greek rationality and Egyptian spirituality.

In his works and lectures, prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff, explains that hermetic works try to convey the knowledge (gnosis) of reality, God and ourselves. Ultimately everything is Nous, which Hanegraaff insists ought to be translated as Light, universal Light, immeasurable Light. The true nature of reality is “Light”, universal spiritual light. God is Light, reality is Light and human beings are Light. In their ordinary perception human beings don’t see Light, they see objects, because they are “deluded”, in a state of hallucination, and don’t perceive reality as it is. The things that are perceived may seem real, but are in reality universal light. The “Way of Hermes” helps us to awaken from the state of delusion and to perceive the true nature of reality.

The first of the 17 treaties is called Poimandres ("shepherd of men"), the Light or Nous appearing to Hermes (presumably the “I” figure of the revelation). Hanegraaff considers this text as a “Revelation” (apokalupsis).

“One day when I had come to reflect on the things that truly are, and my mind was soaring high while my senses were restrained (as happens to someone overwhelmed by sleep from too much food or from physical exhaustion), an enormous being of immeasurable dimensions seemed to appear to me and call my name. He said to me: “What do you want to hear and see, and learn to understand by your nous?”

“For moderns like us, to say that something “cannot be thought” means that our mind cannot grasp it. Our mind, of course, resides in our brain and is concerned with rational thinking. However, according to ancient Egyptian, Semitic, and Greek anthropologies, our intellectual faculties rather resided in the heart. This must very much be kept in mind (or taken to heart) while reading the Hermetica, where we often encounter references to “knowledge of the heart” or perception through the “eyes of the heart.” For moderns it can be more natural in such cases to speak of “spiritual knowledge” and think of “the soul” rather than “the mind,” although this conflicts in many ways with the original meaning and connotations of such central terms as pneuma (“spirit”), psuchē (“soul”), nous (“mind”), or kardia (“heart”). The problem is that modern terms seldom if ever map very well, and often do not map at all, on the Greek words (or words in any other ancient languages) that they are trying to translate. Nevertheless – and this is where we encounter the essential dilemma – we still cannot avoid using such terms as mind, spirit, soul, or the heart in our attempts to convey how Hermetic authors thought of the faculties for gaining access to higher salvational “knowledge,” often referred to as gnōsis. In our efforts to reveal the meaning of ancient words, we have to resort to modern equivalents that in fact conceal their meaning; and yet we have no choice, because only through such acts of concealment can we hope to reveal at least something of the original.[3]”

I will use Hanegraaff’s podcast (Wouter Hanegraaff on the Poimandres) from here. Nous as knowledge, does not refer to mental or intellectual activities, but to what goes “beyond” them[4]. Therefore it would be more correct to speak of “Hermetic spirituality” (or practice) than of “Hermetic philosophy”. Nous not only refers to the perception of reality, but also to that reality itself. It’s both ontological and epistemological.[5] It is sometimes thought to refer to “God”, but in that case not the highest “God”. Not the Ennead, or the beyond of the Ennead (see below). Poimandres is the God that presents himself to the human mind, and is described as “Your God”, “I am the God for you [Hermes]”. Hanegraaff summarizes the Poimandres in the podcast. Hermes wants 1. to know the things that really are and 2. he wants to know God. 

Poimandres then changes his appearance into an Immeasurable Light, the Universal Light, a beautiful, loveable light. Light is what really is (1). And Light itself is the manifestation of something higher (2), going beyond Poimandres. Poimandres explains to Hermes that he (Poimandres) is that Light, and that Hermes is also part of that Light. Hermes’ Nous is equivalent to the Nous of Divinity. “Know the Light and get acquainted with it”. This form of “knowing” is more than knowing it’s a “noetic understanding”. Then Poimandres looks straight into the eyes of Hermes and Hermes looks straight back into the eyes of Poimandres, without any distinction between subject and object. Hermes is Light and is looking into Light, and in a certain way looking into his own eyes. There is no distinction between the ultimate reality of Nous and (Hermes) himself. Hermes himself is Nous and is divine, noetic light. This answers both questions of Hermes.

This direct gaze with no words, a direct realisation, is an essential part of the Poimandres. Another important concept of this text is Logos. Poimandres explains:

“I am that light … the nous, your God, which existed prior to the moist substance that appeared out of the darkness. The luminous logos that came from the nous [is the son of God]. … Know this: that in you which sees and hears is the [Lord’s] logos, and [your] nous is God [the father]. They are not separate, for their union is life.[6]”

The direct realisation doesn’t happen through the Logos (“which sees and hears”), but directly through the Nous. It’s a silent moment, which is neither visual nor auditory.

From this point onwards Poimandres starts explaining the Myth, or rather shows how the world came into being, from the Nous. What we see (and hear, etc.) is phenomenal reality, not the ultimate reality, although it appears as real to us.

1. From the Immeasurable Light (Nous) appears a chaotic darkness that seems distinct from it. From the darkness resounds a cry (“the voice of fire”, but actually the voice of Light according to Jean-Pierre Mahé). The Light of Nous reacts to the cry by sending down the Logos, as a manifestation of itself, and the Logos brings some first rudimentary order (the four elements) into the chaos of darkness.

Screen capture from Prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff

2. The androgynous divine Nous, is often described as “the Father”, but is actually both Father and Mother[7]. It can generate everything at once by itself, and doesn’t need a partner. It already generated the dark matter and the demiurge is created next. The demiurge molds and shapes the dark matter into the harmony of the planetary system. The seven planets and the cosmic spheres are thus created.

3. Then follows the creation of the Great Human, the anthropos (“the great man” skt. mahāpuruṣa), which again is a gendered word for an androgynous human. Yet, the chaotic matter manifests itself as “female” and the Great Human as predominantly male, although by nature both are androgynous.

4. The Human is the favorite manifestation of the Nous, and God/Father himself falls in love with it and wants to give the full power to the anthropos. He puts him in charge of creation. The Human, looking down, wants to act like the demiurge and create for himself. He obtains the permission to do so from the Father, which is an important detail. On this point Hermeticism stands apart from other traditions, where this point is considered as the fall of Man into sin. Because of the permission granted by the Nous, there is no transgression in Hermeticism. The Human enters the sphere of the demiurge, learns its crafts, and is welcomed by the (seven) planetary spheres. He is loved by God and the planets because of his beauty. Bending down over the lowest planet, Earth, the Human sees Nature (physis). Nature looks back up at him (endowed with all powers of divinity) with a smile and falls in love with him. The Human falls in love with Nature.

This is an important point for Hanegraaff, about which different theories exist. This part of the Poimandres is heavily corrupted. Some consider it is about the fall of the Human. Some think the Human falls narcissistically in love with its own reflection in the waters of Nature. The Human goes down, and the Human and Nature become lovers. In some “fin de siecle” scholarly interpretations, Nature seduces the Human and when he’s near enough, Nature grabs him and draws him under the surface, as a Satanic feminine. Demonic femininity seducing and drawing down the pure masculine into sexuality...

In fact the Human and Nature fall in love and become lovers, without any “fall”, and under the loving eye of the Father. Their love/union produces seven great androgynous humans, made from matter and Nous, which is considered as a great miracle, since they unite Heaven and Earth. Noetic/spiritual reality is brought into matter, and matter is thus beautified. The seven live for a whole season, after which God intervenes and splits them up into male and female, thus creating fourteen male and female entities. God tells them to multiply and spread over the world. This is the beginning of humanity and of mortal bodies.

“Grow and keep growing, multiply and keep multiplying, all you who have been fashioned and made! And may he who has nous recognize that he is immortal [kai anagnōrisatō <ho> ennous heauton onta athanaton] and that erōs is the cause of death, and may he know all that is[8].”

God is not against sex… Stating that erōs is the cause of death is merely pointing out that “all material bodies [are] mortal composites, but [that] all such bodies are born from sexual desire.[9]” The “Fall” interpretation of the Myth comes from Biblical notions of sin and the fall into sin..

“Once we have absorbed this basic point, everything else falls into place. Only knowledge of what is truly eternal, the nous, enables human beings to cultivate their immortal potential; and only by understanding that no other reality truly exists will they realize that in gaining knowledge of themselves, they gain knowledge of all that is[10].”

In this “love story between the Human and Nature”, all humans have been given the freedom to realize that knowledge, with “matter [as] a mirror of noetic perfection”, or to forget “their noetic potential”. Often the love story between e.g. Adam and Eve has been interpreted as a fall into sin though sex, and with sex being the cause of death, mortality. Death as punishment for sex. For Hanegraaff, the Poimandres is about what exactly one focuses one's attention on. The main choice between living focused on mortal bodies, and living in a bodily environment while remaining connected to the noetic world. Mortal bodies are not the ultimate reality. Without realizing this, gnōsis[11], there is no way out of that focus, and one enters a cycle of reincarnation “beneath the surface of noetic awareness”[12], in a “disenchanted world”. Poimandres’ answer is to keep a balance between Nous and the body.

An important difference between Hermeticism and Gnosticism is the role of the body. In Gnosticism, the body and matter are problematic and need to be transcended. In the Poimandres, passions are the problem, mainly the attraction to negative desires (sex, power, wealth…[13]). More Platonist influences can be found in e.g. Treatise IV, where the body is compared to a vessel filled with Nous. And another Treatise (XII[14]) explains that when the soul enters the body, it enters a kind of vessel polluted with negative desires, that poison the soul that therefore loses sight of the Nous. The origin of the soul is thought to be beyond the cosmos, outside of time and space, but the soul enters the sphere of time and space, and its states (of consciousness) are altered through this descent. According to Hanegraaff, Hermeticism has too often been interpreted through Gnosticism, thus changing its core message.

Daimones, Pompei, Museum of Naples

According to Gnosticism the soul is imprisoned in the body and has to escape from it and return to its divine origin. According to Hermeticism, the soul is not imprisoned in the body and does not need to escape from it. Passions are the problem, not the body[15]. In Hermetic literature at the moment the soul enters the body, the body gets invaded by daimons at a specific place and a specific time on the Earth at the very moment of birth, specified by the position of the stars and planets. These daimons will remain with the soul for the rest of its earthly life and have a harmful influence on the life of the body they invaded, stimulating harmful emotions, creating addictions and making us run after phantasms, thus poisoning the consciousness. “The daimons made me do it!”.

On the influence of the Poimandres on the “way of Hermes” (Iamblichus), of which hermetica is a part. Here I will be following Hermetic Spirituality and Altered states of Knowledge, a lecture by Prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff on December 15th 2022.

Hermetica has to be seen as a spiritual path, not as a philosophy, although it has philosophical theories. These serve as an underpinning to the spiritual path that develops the inner person. The path leads from a view where materiality predominates to a view (re)connected to the Nous. The goal of the path explained in the treatises following the Poimandres is to break the exclusive power of the bodily senses over our minds, in order to perceive again our essential connection to the Nous. The Poimandres is a sort of original enlightening event. Once “enlightened” there still is a long path to go for Hermes. This enlightenment needs to be further cultivated in order to become part of his life. The other treatises set out a path, going through stages, where the philosophical theories are learned in combination with “meditational practices” (podcast). Philosophy was a way of life (Pierre Hadot) and this is true as well for Hermetica. Yet their meditational practises went far beyond the standard practices of the other Greek traditions. These are techniques for the alteration of consciousness. In order to see things that we usually don’t see with our normal senses. We don’t have the details about these techniques, but we can see the progression in the stages of consciousness and their awareness of realities that initially were not perceived. These techniques are mentioned in particular in Treatises XIII and in the Ogdoad and the Ennead/Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth (Nag Hammadi Codex VI), with the objective to get back in touch with the noetic world.

Screen capture from Prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff

It’s about creating eusebeia (reverence, great respect)[16], which Hanegraaff sees as something more important than the pursuit of gnosis in Hermeticism, and glosses as being an attitude of wonder, of respect and admiration for God or for God’s creation, i.e. anything beautiful, good and true. Therefore the first task is to live a life of reverence, whether one has gnosis or not. The gods are believed to forgive anything, but not asebeia (“irreverence towards the state gods"), “a lack of reverence”. Those living a life of eusebeia, reverence, will find salvation after death. The Poimandres describes how the soul travels (back) upwards, going through the seven planets (spheres), leaving the cosmos and reaching the “sphere of the souls” ("Life"), also called the ogdoad (the eighth sphere). The ultimate essence of the soul is ultimate spiritual divine “Light” (Nous). If a soul then unites with the “Light” that is its real Self, its essence, it reaches the “sphere of Nous” (the noetic ninth sphere, Ennead). Everything is Light, anything that’s “not Light” is delusion.

When hermetic authors talk about “God”, they actually mean the Nous, the universal Light of divinity, the Nineth sphere, the only thing that really truly exists. The Light of the Nous is identical with our inner Light, the Nous inside ourselves. This Light may blind us through its presence, and we may forget its presence. Hermetica’s aim is to make us aware again of our inner Nous, and that our Inner Light is actually identical with the universal Light of God himself.

There even is a Tenth sphere, called “the One”, or “the Source” or “Fountain”[17]. Hermetic literature has ten levels[18]. Since there is no time and space beyond the cosmos, it is difficult to say that the Tenth level would be higher, or the Ninth and the Eight lower. It’s a mystery. The whole of reality is Life and Light, coming from a totally unknowable inconceivable (acintya) source.

This is a first blog about Hermeticism, which I will consider from an esoteric Buddhist and a “mainstream” Buddhist perspective. It seems to me that there is no genuine conflict between Hermeticism and esoteric Buddhism on “Light” (“God”) and its divine nature, but there may be a deeper conflict between “mainstream” Buddhism and Hermeticism, and consequently also with esoteric Buddhism about the nature of “Light”.

A curious Hermetic (Flammarion engraving)

***

[1] Hart explains that the epithet is derived from an epithet of Thoth found at the Temple of Esna, "Thoth the great, the great, the great". Hart, G., The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2005, Routledge, second edition, Oxon, p 158

[2] Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Bloomsbury Publishing

[3] Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity, Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Cambridge University Press (2022)
“Throughout the rest of this volume, I write nous in small letters whenever it seems to mean primarily a human capacity or metaphysical reality, but capitalize it as Nous if the latter functions as a deity.”

[4] In Tibetan blo las ‘das pa.

[5] Episode 104: Wouter Hanegraaff on the Poimandres, 14/10/2020

[6] Hermetic Spirituality, p. 164

[7] Yab yum.

[8] Hermetic Spirituality, p. 176

[9] Hermetic Spirituality, p. 177

[10] Hermetic Spirituality, p. 177

[11] “The goal is spiritual knowledge, gnōsis – literally re-cognition or re-membering of one’s true self as identical with the divine Light and Life, as Poimandres points out to Hermes once again.”

[12] Hermetic Spirituality, p. 179

[13] Treatise XIII, about Rebirth, that gives a list of twelve vices corresponding to the twelve astrological houses.

[14] “As soon as it has entered a body, every soul gets corrupted by pain and pleasure”.

[15] Embassy of the Free Mind, Lecture Hermetic Spirituality and Altered states of Knowledge by Prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff, 15/12/2022

[16] Which makes me think of the notions “puja” in sanskrit and “mchod pa” in tibetan.


[17] “I want to speak! Fear restrains me. I have found the beginning of the power that is above all powers, the one that has no beginning. I see a fountain bubbling with life. I have said, my son, that I am Mind [Nous]. I have seen! Language is not able to reveal this. For the entire Ogdoad, my son, and the souls that are in it, and the angels, sing a hymn in silence. And I, Mind [Nous], understand.” The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth (Nag Hammadi Library), Translated by James Brashler, Peter A. Dirkse, and Douglas M. Parrott

[18] Bhūmi.

"Le corps qui reçoit les coups ne juge pas"

Dans notre époque et dans nos contrées, où l’on parle volontiers de “retour à l’autorité”, “réarmement civique”, "remettre de l’autorité à l’école", et de “retour de l'autorité à chaque niveau et d'abord dans la famille”, on semble attendre avec une certaine impatience le retour de “la main ferme”, et que des actions soient enfin jointes à la bonne parole diffusée 24/24 sur tous les plateaux. En attendant de voir comment ce “retour à l’autorité” se traduira “à chaque niveau” et “d’abord dans la famille”[1] et bien sûr à l’école, regardons comment “la main ferme” qui ne tremble pas a toujours été un instrument indispensable, voire essentiel, dans l’éducation et la transmission du bouddhisme.

Sans “une main ferme”, la transmission (de “l’éveil”) n’est pas possible, répètent des maîtres bouddhistes encore de nos jours[2]. Le devoir d’un maître est de dompter (tib. bdul ba), “discipliner”, le disciple, et de le rendre docile[3]. Dans les cercles Zen, on discute tranquillement du bien fondé de la violence des méthodes d’origine[4], désormais ritualisée en le “bâton de Tokusan” (Deshan Xuanjian VIII-IXème).

Les coups de bâton kyōsaku ne sont pas une punition, et ne servent qu’ “à réveiller et revigorer le participant qui peut être fatigué durant le zazen”[5]. Difficile de faire abstraction de ce à quoi ont toujours servi le bâton et les coups de bâton. Mais dans le Zen, le corps qui reçoit les coups ne juge pas (et le mental n’a rien à voir là-dedans, ce n’est pas son affaire !). Le corps sait que c’est pour son bien. Dans le cadre de l’éducation, de la formation, du coaching, etc., les violences physiques, verbales et mentales, "bien dosées", ont pu servir à former et à corriger. Corriger tout en essayant d’expliquer prend parfois trop de temps et d’effort. Le corps “entend” souvent mieux que l’esprit, et reçoit les coups “cinq sur cinq”. Le corps a une bien meilleure mémoire.

Les parents corrigent l’enfant pour son bien
L’école corrige l’élève pour son bien
Le maître corrige le disciple pour son bien, etc. etc.

Qui aime bien, châtie bien, en ne corrigeant que pour rendre meilleur. Meilleur dans l’optique de celui qui corrige, bien sûr, et qui deviendra idéalement l’optique futur de l’individu corrigé. Châtier à l’image de Dieu, car le roi Salomon nous rappelle dans le Livre des Proverbes "Car l’Éternel châtie celui qu’il aime, Comme un père l’enfant qu’il chérit". Quelqu’un qui vous corrige, qui vous “fait violence” comme diraient les plus sensibles parmi nous, s’intéresse à vous, et agit par bienveillance, même si vous ne le voyez pas tout de suite. “Ce qui ne me tue pas me rend plus fort” dit Nietzsche[6].

Les punitions physiques étaient encore permises à l’école de ma jeunesse. En bon bouddhiste, je comprends maintenant que le maître d’école, et ses différents outils de correction (règle carrée pour les doigts et la tête, grande règle du tableau pour les fessiers, à genoux au coin, à genoux à côté de son propre banc les bras en l’air, gifle avec la bague à pierre tournée vers l’intérieur, etc.) voulait notre bien. Son autorité était toute entière, pour qu’il puisse accomplir au mieux sa mission : la transmission d’un savoir au service de tous.

En bon bouddhiste, je comprends enfin que la douleur des corrections s’élève à partir du mental, et que sans mental, pas de douleur. Il suffit de recevoir les coups sans juger, sans mental, en samādhi, et donc sans douleur. Si seulement tout le monde pouvait voir spontanément ceux qui nous corrigent comme des bon maîtres, au sens bouddhiste du mot, la vie serait moins douloureuse (du côté mental), et l’autorité serait vue comme un outil de réarmement bienveillant et précieux. Sans ego, sans résistance de notre part, et armés de notre résilience, ce que nous croyions percevoir comme de l’autorité (voire de la douleur) se dissiperait dans l’espace, deviendrait vacuité. Ca marche, nous l'avons déjà vu...

Contrairement à l’Occident, les traditions bouddhistes asiatiques ont su intégrer et préserver toute l’autorité au maître. Ils n’ont pas besoin d’un “retour à l’autorité”. Les disciples asiatiques semblent avoir mieux intégré la nécessité de “bastonnades”. Cela est d’ailleurs très clairement expliqué dans les hagiographies et dans les manuels d’instructions.

“Toutes les actions de ce précieux et parfait Lama,
Quelles qu’elles soient, sont bonnes.
Tout ce qu’il fait est excellent
Entre ses mains le travail, maléfique d’un boucher
Est bon, et apporte des bienfaits aux bêtes,
Inspiré par la compassion pour toutes.
Quand il s’unit sexuellement de façon impropre,
Ses qualités s’accroissent, et s’élèvent comme renouvelées,
Montrant que les moyens et la sagesse ont été réunis.
Ses mensonges qui nous dupent,
Ne sont que les signes habiles par lesquels il nous
Guide sur le chemin de la liberté.
Lorsqu’il vole, les biens volés se changent en denrées nécessaires pour soulager la pauvreté de tous.
Quand un tel Lama réprimande
Ses paroles sont de puissants mantras
Pour faire disparaître la détresse et les obstacles.
Ses coups sont des bénédictions
Qui accordent les deux siddhis et réjouissent tous les hommes fervents et respectueux.[7]”

Bien sûr, il ne faut pas généraliser. En Occident aussi, il y a des bouddhistes qui savent garder le silence et réduire l’activité de leur mental quand des gourous sont au travail. S’ils ne sont pas très nombreux, ils sont souvent là où cela compte, au premier rang, dans les premiers cercles du gourou, en resserrant les rangs autour de lui. Si l’autorité débordante d’un maître envers ses disciples (Tailopa et Nāropa, patriarches Zen,...) peut donner la chair de poule aux pieux lecteurs d’hagiographie, elle n’est pas souvent bien accueillie par des non-initiés. Jusqu’à récemment, ce qui relevait de l’autorité avait plutôt mauvaise presse en Occident, mais grâce à des évolutions plus favorables un peu partout dans le monde, on peut espérer son retour prochain en France aussi, ce qui permettrait peut-être de nouveau aux gourous de faire leur travail de façon plus virile et décomplexée.

Sauf erreur, Socrate, qui n'était pas le pire des maîtres, n'utilisait pas de bâton pour "accoucher les esprits de leurs connaissances".

***  

[1] Suite aux violences urbaines, Emmanuel Macron veut ouvrir à la fin de l'été "le chantier de l'autorité parentale", Gabrielle Batesti - 24 juillet 2023

[2] Sogyal also declared “Each time I hit you I want you to remember that you are closer to me… closer to me. The harder I hit you the closer the connection.” (July 30th 2004, garden of Sogyal's villa in Lerab Ling, France) Youtube

Après avoir mis un coup de poing dans le ventre d’une nonne devant une salle pleine, Sogyal expliqua que sans cela, il ne pourrait plus enseigner.

"The next day, one of the Rigpa hierarchy addressed the doubters. Sogyal, he said, was upset that people should be questioning his methods. If people didn’t understand what had actually happened, then they probably weren’t ready for the promised higher-level teachings, and Sogyal would not teach again during the retreat." Sexual assaults and violent rages... Inside the dark world of Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche”

[3] « [Trungpa] dit, eh bien le problème avec Merwin — c'était il y a quelques jours — il dit, le problème de Merwin était la vanité. Il dit, je voulais me charger de lui en m'ouvrant totalement à lui, en mettant de côté toutes les barrières. “C'était un pari.” dit-il. Alors je demandais était-ce un erreur ? Il répondit “Non.” Alors je dis que si c'était un pari et que cela n'avait pas marché, pourquoi ne serait-ce pas une erreur? Eh bien, parce que maintenant tous les étudiants doivent y réfléchir, cela servira d'exemple, et leur fera peur. Alors je rétorquai “Et si tout le monde en parle à l'extérieur, cela ne causerait pas un scandale énorme?” Et Trungpa de répondre, “Eh bien, ne sois pas étonné de découvrir que tout l'enseignement se réduit finalement à la vacuité et la docilité.” Boulder Monthly, mars 1979.

[4] A en juger par les hagiographies des patriarches, voir Entretiens de Lin-Tsi de Paul Demiéville, Faits et gestes, p. 205 et suivantes. Trois questions, trois bastonnades.

[5] Wikipedia Kyōsaku

[6] "Nietzsche Trauma and Overcoming " montre que Nietzsche a souffert d'un syndrome de stress post-traumatique et qu'il a très probablement été victime d'abus sexuels pendant son enfance..

[7] Le Flambeau de la certitude (éd. Yiga Tcheu Dzinn, 1980, le “livre des pratiques préliminaires”, composé par Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé (1813 - 1899). Traduit de l'anglais. La version anglaise avait été traduite par Judith Hanson, avec une préface de Chogyam Trungpa.